Shattering of a Rock
by Nicholas de Vilance
Summary: /DanielVala. Valacentric/  It was the worst kind of torment imaginable, watching her stability, her rock, shatter before he very eyes. /read authors note for warnings/


Nicholas: Because I didn't get many reviews on the last chapter of When He's Mute so I'm slow-running on that one. And I saw something today that deeply disturbed me.

Disclaimer: I'm not that crazy. I'm only this crazy. That? That's all them.

Rating: M...violent overtones, explicit torture, dark themes, mild language, Daniel!whump...no real happy ending, but if you squint, you can see the silver lining... and I mean squint...like _really_ hard.

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><p>Daniel was in tears. All things being relative, that should not have been so monumentally terrifying, but they weren't and it was. Daniel didn't <em>cry<em>. Daniel was a rock, he was the epitome of logic; he could explain away the most terrible, heart-wrenching things so that they weren't so unimaginable anymore. He managed to make everything sound natural, okay and right—and when it wasn't, he had the fury and determination to do something about it. When her world was caving in all around her, he broke through the madness and the amnesia and made sense out of it, and when she gave birth to the biggest threat their galaxy had ever known, well, he managed to make that sound like it wasn't completely, ridiculously atrocious. That was what she had to rely on when things got bad, when those times came and she found herself so deep in the darkness it felt as though she'd never come out again. Those times, she had his smile and his hand and his well-meaning, if a bit snarky remarks on her sanity. Now, all she could see or hear was the ocean of salt-tears streaming down his cheeks and the hurried, uncontrolled sobs that shook his entire body.

Watching this, she didn't know what to do. She felt herself starting to detach, starting to deal with the emotional duress the way she always did—by running as far away from the pain as she possibly could. However, their cell was small, and she could only tear her eyes from the sight of such a strong man crumbling to bits and pieces before her. This was the worst torture that she could even fathom, being made to witness the utter destruction of the one thing in the world, in the whole damned universe, that ever, _genuinely_ made her feel like she was worth something. Right then, she knew that she would have cracked, would have given all—told every secret she knew just to stop this. The real horrifying part was that whoever these sickos were, they hadn't _asked _for anything. People in cloaks and masks just took Daniel away some hours ago and now brought him back…like this.

She couldn't do this; she couldn't bear it. This was like having her fingernails torn off all at the same time while she was chewing her own tongue out of her mouth. This was like watching a beautiful, majestic, peaceful animal gunned down right in front of her for no good reason other than amusement. What could she do, she didn't know what to do. And when she didn't know, or wasn't sure, where could she go with her question? Where did she always go, who could she always trust not to make fun of her or brush her off? Daniel of course, the pathetic heap of agony that was twisting and writhing on the floor just feet from her. Her skin crawled when he let loose a bone-chilling howl of pain.

What the hell could anyone accomplish by doing this? What did they want from her? Because this was for her—whatever it was. This was a carefully orchestrated and executed torture devised specifically for her. The only thing she could think of was breaking her, but if that was the case then they'd done it. She'd tell them anything, do anything they wanted if only they'd just _stop_.

"What!" she shouted, what must have been the millionth time. "What do you want from me!"

Daniel's whimpering and crying seemed to lessen every time she went into hysterics. She wasn't sure if that was specifically designed to keep her overstimulated or just a happy accident for her tormentor(s) to enjoy.

"Please!" Now, she was on the verge, so close to falling permanently into that darkness that she was afraid that she might actually fall off and she _didn't know what to do_. Daniel was her stability, her knight in shining armor that pulled her from the fire in the nick of time—whether he knew this or not. All she needed was his firm grip on her hand and his dazzling smile and she'd be able to think clearly.

She glanced over at him again and he screamed, pulling his fingers through his hair. Startled, she scooted harder against the wall, as if that could shelter her from this, the reality that this was happening and she couldn't stop it. Her eyes ached and burned with unshed tears that just wouldn't fall and the hopelessness started to close in on her. Sighing heavily, she brought her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. Once more, her eyes fell on Daniel—because really, what else was there to look at that was so devastatingly beautiful and horrible.

It was a close call, but her heart made a good attempt at lodging itself into her throat before she got hold of herself. Now, Daniel's eyes were open, red and teary and he was looking straight at her. One of his hands was still locked in his hair, as if pulling hard enough could counter balance the pain within his head, but the other was now lying on the floor, outstretched toward her. And…what the ever-loving fuck?

"Daniel?" she breathed, her throat just short of tightening too much for speaking to be possible.

His body jerked and his eyes clenched shut for just a moment, but then he was looking at her again. He was still gasping for breath and sobbing like a child throwing a tantrum, and he seemed to have the presence of mind to understand her unspoken question and go so far as to nod his head in acquiescence. It was utterly unbelievable, he was reduced to a quivering mass by whatever was causing him so much pain, and he still was trying to be there for _her_.

"You impractical, inconceivable, extraordinarily selfless bastard," she hissed, uncoiling herself so that she could crawl to him on all fours—that was all their limited space allowed.

The brief existence of a smirk was murdered on his lips when the pain became too much for him again. He screamed, short and hoarse and slammed a fist into the stone floor before reaching out more insistently. At this point, she was right beside him. She almost drew her hand back, except that he snatched it and held tightly, just barely short of digging his nails into her wrist. Gently—well, as gently as one can while shaking in the throes of unimaginable pain—he tugged her down toward him and moved his lips as if he was speaking.

She leaned down, brought her ear very close to his face so that she could hear. Given what he was currently going through, Daniel probably couldn't get his lungs or vocal cords to do much of what he wanted them to, but he managed a couple words.

"Need me," his voice crackled out of him like white noise. "Need you…together."

At those very quiet, very unadorned words, her heart started to do those little loop-di-loops that she usually only got when Daniel was being dashing without knowing it, or adorably oblivious. And damn it if she wasn't starting to feel hope surge into her very being despite that she knew better—that this time they were all alone, no one was coming to valiantly save them at the last minute. Damn you, Daniel.

"Together?" she asked, keeping her voice low, almost as soft as his was. His grip on her wrist tightened and he wailed a short, low moan of distress before calming down again. "How long, Daniel? Because I'm telling you, I'm not sure how much more of this I can take."

As his breathing started to quicken to high-pitched, suffering wheezes, he managed to look up at her through the redness in his eyes. She saw the faintest ghost of a smile and it was like the dam broke. Her unshed tears started to rush forth; the pressure of it was so great that she couldn't stop them. It didn't help any when Daniel's other hand detached from his hair and reached up to wipe at her face. "Long as…ung…you…need me."


End file.
